10 Things NXT Did Specifically To Beat AEW

6. Recruiting From The Main Roster

In the modern history of NXT, the path to the main roster has been a one-way street. Stars arrive in the company, get tailored for TV and learn the subtleties of Sports Entertainment, then shipped off to Raw or SmackDown never to return. However, 2019 saw a glut of these "reverse call-ups"; first Tyler Breeze returned to challenge Velveteen Dream, followed shortly by tag-team partner Fandango, Killian Dain attacked Matt Riddle, and even Apollo Crews appeared at a set of tapings in June.

In the past such a move was detrimental. Underperforming stars being turfed back to "developmental" appeared to be a huge demotion on their part and would do nothing but establish NXT as somehow inferior. You get to leave here when you're good, but you have to go back if you're not good enough. But last week proved otherwise.

Tyler Breeze couldn't get a sniff on the main-roster, but on NXT he's already had a very strong title match and tagged with Kushida in the main event. He's there now as a recognisable name and a reason for frustrated SmackDown viewers to tune into NXT instead. The fact is, despite how bad his last two years have been, Breeze is still a bigger name that the majority of the AEW roster to casual fans, and he's a big asset for a competing show.